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Minister of Defence Tsahkna: Estonia will actively develop European defence cooperation during Presidency

15. May 2017 - 11:00

Estonia is planning on being an active partner in order to further promote European defence cooperation during its Presidency of the European Council, said Minister of Defence Margus Tsahkna who met with Federica Mogherini, European Union High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on Friday.

“Europeans want the EU to deal more with security and defence questions," said Minister of Defence Tsahkna. “The European Union has set those same topics as its own ambitions. We are pleased to see that the EU is devoting more and more to security.”

According to Tsahkna, it is also important that the EU and NATO complement one another, since their members overlap to a large extent.

“Estonia supports the strengthening of cooperation between the EU and NATO on every level. Our objective is to ensure coordinated training, enhanced situational awareness and the development of cyber defence,” said Tsahkna.

According to the Minister of Defence, the focusing of attention on security also means additional resources for the field.

“The European Union must pay closer attention to defence capabilities and already existing mechanisms, for example, improving the usability of European Union battle groups. To do so, the monetary burden on battle groups must be shared more equally between Member States,” said Tsahkna.

Federica Mogherini will be giving the keynote address today at the international Lennart Meri conference.

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